Today I want to take a leaf out of Google’s Jaime Casap’s book and not ask what you want to be when you grow up, but ask you instead ask you what problems you want to solve.

What schools are trying to prepare you for is changing. Some employers are looking at results less than voluntary experience or creativity. Instead of taking the candidate who has the highest qualification, they’ll take the candidate with the most empathy or someone who can think outside the box and think differently to others. The jobs you’ll be vying for in 10 years time are ones we can’t even predict. Thanks to the exponential development of technology, we are trying to prepare you for jobs that don’t exist yet.

You are incredibly lucky to be at a school that doesn’t just want to set you up with good results; we want you to be confident, creative, and connected and capable of learning well beyond school. Wa ako this year is our opportunity together to realise this vision, to develop your learning story and celebrate you as an individual learner.

As Wa ako develops this year and we take on active learning, I hope you will consider these questions:

How will you make a difference this year?

And what will be your legacy when you leave Newlands College?

What will you be remembered for?

I look forward to supporting your ideas and hope that Year 13 gets on board this initiative in a way that we can be very proud of.

In support of these messages, Ms Featherstone is our careers adviser and is happy to work alongside you to help make your transition to life after Newlands College successful. Here are some messages about cupcakes from her:

As a final treat in our assembly we had DaveGeigle demonstrate his skills and ability with a yoyo. He’s a World Champion in the sport and was visiting Newlands College from Germany. His 2014 World Championship performance is here: